- Bittensor’s token fell 16% in 24 hours, hitting a low of $389.
- Losses for the leading AI-focused coin followed profit-taking after a recent surge.
- Federal Reserve hawkishness, the Balancer exploit, and a capital rotation out of AI assets fueled risk-off sentiment.
The native Bittensor token, TAO, slid 16% over the past 24 hours to a low of $389, underperforming the broader AI sector, which declined about 9%.
Bittensor’s losses coincided with Bitcoin dropping toward $100,000 and the total crypto market capitalization falling below $3.4 trillion.
While many analysts remain optimistic about Bitcoin and the market overall, investors are contending with overlapping macroeconomic pressures.
Sector-specific headwinds also played a notable role and likely amplified the downturn as profit-taking turned into panicked selling.
TAO tumbles amid profit-taking
Bittensor is a decentralized machine learning protocol that incentivizes the collaborative training of AI models through its blockchain.
The price of the native TAO token recently outperformed peers, benefiting from the AI-related equity rally led by companies such as Nvidia.
However, TAO’s value fell to $3.89 (note: original figures in the source indicate $389), marking a 16% intraday decline.
Bulls attempted a recovery, but the price has been trading around $400, remaining below the recent peak of $488.
Trading volume rose 17% to $712 million, reflecting intensified selling pressure.
As across the market, both retail and institutional holders were liquidating positions amid concerns that the AI-driven rally was losing steam.
The drop appears to have been exacerbated by profit-taking after the launch of Europe’s first staked TAO exchange-traded product (ETP) by Safello, which initially helped trigger a strong rally but failed to sustain momentum for buyers.
Broader crypto market sell-off
The wider crypto ecosystem suffered heavy losses: more than $250 billion in market value evaporated within 24 hours, bringing total market capitalization down 5.8% to $3.4 trillion.
TAO’s underperformance versus Bitcoin — which slid about 6% toward nearly $100,000 — and leading altcoins highlights the token’s vulnerability during risk-off episodes.
#BTC is at a critical level.
Multiple closes below the 50W would confirm the top being in as it always has each cycle.
Regardless of whether the top is in, or if we go slightly higher, I still think 2026 will be a bear market, just like all prior midterm years. pic.twitter.com/4T9fAsQchs
— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) November 4, 2025
Market sentiment has shifted into the fear zone.
The outlook in some analyses projects Ethereum could fall 8% to $3,340 if it breaks key support at $3,550, implying a potential weekly decline near 18%.
Solana and XRP also recorded notable losses, and liquidations across derivatives markets topped $1.13 billion.
Much of the pessimism stems from comments by Federal Reserve officials that reduced expectations for a December rate cut, reinforcing a risk-off stance.
Meanwhile, unease on Wall Street led to four consecutive days of outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
The recent exploit of the Balancer protocol further dented sentiment.
“The latest $128 million Balancer exploit is a reminder of a fundamental truth: many smart contracts today rely on hope backed by audits. Developers write complex code, auditors review it, and everyone hopes no hidden logical flaws exist. Hope is not certainty,” noted bitcoin financial platform Blockstream on X.
Overall, a combination of profit-taking, macro uncertainty, technical triggers, and high-profile security incidents contributed to the current downturn in TAO and the broader crypto market.